West Island Mommies fans – we are calling on you to help out this holiday season!

We are teaming up with local food bank On Rock to help families in need in the West Island this holiday season. On Rock is a food bank located in Pierrefonds that delivers much needed food to close to 300 families every week. For Christmas they will be delivering a food basket to each of these families so that they can enjoy a traditional Christmas meal and with the food basket, they also include a box of gifts for the children under 18 in the family.

This year we will be helping to collect new toys/items/gift cards so that each of these families will have something to put under the tree for their kids. This is where you come in! Here is what they are in need of:

Ages 1-4

Ages 5-7

Ages 8-10

Ages 11-13

Ages 14 to 20yrs old

While they are in need of gifts for all ages, the older groups are always the hardest to fill, so we want to help them in all age groups. New toys for the younger ages are great, but they are looking for gift cards to give out to the older kids as well. A suggested amount for the gift cards would be about $10 to $15 for some shopping (ie. Fairview) or perhaps to the movies, chapters, Pharmacy, Walmart, Visa, Etc. Please arrange for a drop off on these items and not to our drop off locations.

All gifts should be dropped off unwrapped, and there are various drop-off points in the West Island. We have 3 drop off locations this year. For Gift cards please contact me at westislandmommies@gmail.com

Have you ever taken the family to see the CP Holiday Train? It’s a great way to kick off the Holiday season! As packed and crazy it can be, it’s so much fun. One year it even snowed which made it more magical. If crowds are not your thing, you can stand at one of the train stations along the 20 like Pointe Claire, Cedar park and you can watch the train drive by lit up. By not being at the beaconsfield train station, you miss out on the entertainment, food donations and much more.

The CP Holiday Train program launched in 1999 and has since raised more than C$14.5 million and gathered 4.3 million pounds of food for communities along CP’s routes in Canada and the United States.

Beginning in Montreal on November 25 and 27 respectively, two trains will make the festive journey, travelling through both the U.S. and Canada to bring holiday cheer to 164 communities along CP’s network. Each event is free, with CP encouraging attendees to open their cupboards and wallets to help address hunger needs in their communities. Local food banks will be accepting donations at each stop to ensure those less fortunate have enough healthy food this holiday season.

“On behalf of the 13,000-strong family here at CP, it is my great pleasure to kick-off the 20th tour of the CP Holiday Train,” said Keith Creel, CP’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “It is a privilege for CP to be able to run a program like this and connect with so many communities across our network. I want to personally thank each individual who has made a donation over the past 20 years – your collective efforts have made the Holiday Train a huge success for two decades.”

The Canadian Train will depart Montreal on November 27. Kelly Prescott will join three time Juno award-winner Terri Clark and Sierra Noble to spread holiday cheer through Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan to Calgary, Alta. Sam Roberts Band will then carry on through Alberta and British Columbia to the final show of the 2018 CP Holiday Train tour in Port Coquitlam on Dec. 18.

The Holiday Trail will be arriving at Beaconsfield Train Station on Tuesday November 27th at 8pm. This year’s entertainment will be Terri Clark, Sierra Noble and Kelly Prescott which starts at 8:15. Arrive early as parking is very limited.

The onboard entertainment will be from 8:15 to 8:45pm. Even Santa makes a visit!

As the principal of the only German school in Canada educating children from all nationalities from kindergarten to high school, I am often asked: “Why a German school in Canada?”

Speaking German is no admission requirement until the age of 10 years

People are astonished when I reply that amongst our 300 students 60% do not speak German at home. Upon admission to mini-kindergarten at the age of 2 ½ years or later, most of our students know little or no German at all.

Why on earth should, for example, a Chinese or Mexican child living in Canada who has neither German parents nor ever lived in Germany, go through the hassle of learning the – admittedly sometimes complicated- German language? I then explain that our kindergarten students integrate normal German Classes and learn the language at an early age, not even noticing the excellent work their brain is performing. We admit students starting at the age of seven until age of 10/11 with little or no knowledge of German to our so-called Immersion Class, provided they are academically strong. After one year, these students will then easily integrate into the normal German curriculum (by the way, with only 10-15 students per class in the elementary school!) and eventually finish their schooling alongside with their German-native friends with the German International Baccalaureate.

The brain is like a sponge – multilingual education makes children smarter and more empathetic

Often, this leads to a stimulating conversation about multilingual education and the broadening of horizons, which goes along with multilingualism and multicultural education – not only language wise but also intellectually, culturally and socially. And no worries about not being able to help your child with German homework: In Elementary School, homework in German is done at school. We have after class study groups and a German course for parents to learn German at the same time as their child.

Finally, our conversation touches on the benefits of German culture and science. Then, I cannot help but talk about my favorite subject: our state-of-the-art science laboratory and the science and math contests, our students take part in every year with remarkable success – Leading me to a small side remark about our diverse theater, music, arts and sports after-school activities. This usually brings us to talk about the world-famous quality seal “Made in Germany”, the fact that German is the most widely spoken mother-tongue language in Europe and the European Union being the largest common market in

the world. That’s why the German Government promotes German Language learning with a network of 140 German Schools in 72 countries, teaching more than 82,000 students outside of Germany.

International School – Three Languages ​​- Two degrees

I then explain that AvH students receive a high school teaching according to German quality standards and, at the same time, an international education. In addition to German, our students learn English and French fluently. At the age of 16/17 they must make a though decision: Do they leave their friends who they grew up with to integrate CEGEP or do they stay at AvH for another year? After Grade 11 they have their Quebec High School Diploma in hand, allowing them to integrate a CEGEP and continue their studies in the Canadian educational system. Their German Language Diploma obtained at AvH will allow them to enroll at German Universities without any language test. Alternatively, and this is what most of our students decide to do, they can continue one more year at AvH and will then have the German International Abitur in hand, allowing them to directly enroll at Universities worldwide. No matter what path they choose, our AvH students are prepared to study at the most prestigious universities.

Starting small, reaching out for big

In a nutshell, our school is all about starting small, reaching out for big. Our students start at AvH at a very young age (Mini-K at 2 ½ years). Our school is like a village school in former times, beautifully located in the residential town of Baie D’Urfé in the West Island Area of Montreal: With a comfortable teacher-Student ratio of 1:12 everybody knows each other. We have one class per grade and our students often stay together for over a decade. However, our program is internationally oriented with a special focus on languages and science. Our Students regularly undertake class trips in Canada and US and to foreign countries, participate in international events and take part in all sorts of local, nation-wide and world-wide competitions. When they come out of AvH they have strong personalities, sure of themselves without being arrogant, yet aware of their strengths and capacities to excel, with a strong sensibility for social issues armed with several Diplomas, mastering at least three languages (German, English and French). Academically at the top of their game, they are prepared to integrate the most famous universities in the world and embrace the world with all the wonders and challenges life might bring to them in the future.

I hope to have won your interest in our school and invite you to fill out the contact form on our webpage so one of our school representatives can contact you to discuss how your child could become a member of our AvH Family.